Performing will be the American composer Alvin Lucier, who uses electronic devices such as tape recorders and oscillators to explore the characteristics of sound waves and the acoustic properties of space. Lucier will be joined by cellist and composer Charles Curtis, who has woven a unique career through the worlds of classical performance and musical experimentation. Brooklyn-based light and sound artist Bruce McClure will present one of his rarely-seen projection performances, using multiple 16mm film projectors.

Performance includes four compositions of Alvin Lucier:

Charles Curtis
Solo cello with slow sweep pure wave oscillators. 2002

On the carpet of leaves illuminated by the moon
Solo cello with pure wave oscillator, 2000

Glacier
Solo cello, 2009

Slices
Solo cello and pre-recorded orchestra, 2007

Alvin Lucier (Nashua NH 1931). Studies at Portsmouth Abbey School, Yale University and Brandeis University. Conductor of Brandeis University Chamber Chorus 1962-70; co-founder of Sonic Arts Union (1966). More than 25 recordings on Lovely Music Records, Nonesuch and other labels since 1968. Pioneer in many areas of music composition and performance, including the notation of performers’ physical gestures, the use of brain waves in live performance, the generation of visual imagery by sound in vibrating media, and the evocation of room acoustics for musical purposes. Recent works include a series of sound installations and works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and orchestra performed at venues including the Venice Biennale and the Donaueschingen Music Festival in Germany. Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music; Professor of Music at Wesleyan University since 1970.

Charles Curtis (Laguna Beach CA 1960). Studies at Juilliard. Formerly principal cellist of the Symphony Orchestra of the NDR (Hamburg); guest appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Symphonisches Orchester Berlin, etc; numerous performances at international music festivals including Sound and Music London and Festival d’Automne, Paris. Frequent collaborations with composers including La Monte Young, Éliane Radigue, Christian Wolff and others. Professor of Music at the University of California, San Diego since 2000.

Bruce McClure (Washington DC 1959). Studies architecture at Virginia Tech, licensed to practice in New York State in 1994. Assistant to John Cage at the Mountain Lake Workshop (Virginia) in 1983, 1988 and 1990. Begins working with stroboscopic discs in 1994; creates more than thirty 16mm projector performances since 1995. Presentations at International Film Festival Rotterdam, Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), two editions of the Whitney Biennial (New York), etc. Tours with Throbbing Gristle (2009); awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (2011). Lives in Brooklyn, New York. 13th consecutive appearance at Media City, festival Grand Prize in 2005.

Oona Mosna